No Blackout Today

You’ll all be relieved to know that after discussion with my peers and much deliberation, I have decided not to follow Wikipedia by blacking out my blog today in protest to the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).  I do so, not because I disagree with the protection of Intellectual Property, but because I disagree with strong arm tactics of vested interest groups only out for themselves.

Whether it’s record and film producers lobbying for draconian measures to shut down file sharing; or Wikipedia sulking with the silent treatment because its access to the all-you-can eat information salad bar is being threatened, I get cautious.  Both sides here represent extremes of a pendulum action that will be like driving off the left side of the bridge to avoid driving off the right side.

In a recent Facebook thread, my buddy Levi Leyenhorst pointed me to a TED lecture with Internet expert essayist, Clay Shirky.  In it, Shirky suggests that US Government bill efforts like SOPA are an attempt on the part of the Content Industry to guard a monopoly on what and how we watch and listen.

Aurora photographer, Andrew Kornylak, pushes the thread along to say:

Make no mistake: Google, Wiki, Facebook and others are not lobbying on behalf of the individual, no matter how they spin it. The fact is their very existence and success relies on weak copyright laws.

Cream of the Crop – PhotoServe January edition

Over the past 2 months I have come to realize that the edit is just as important to portfolios and galleries as the actual photographs that go into making them.

Last month, I began to work with Jackie Ney, a freelance photo consultant out of New York and she’s had me going hair-straight-back ever since.  Prior to this, I could not have imagined the amount of work that was needed to pull together a proper portfolio, build up market buzz and get positioned to schlep “your book” around.  If I weren’t so totally stoked by the process and the prospects, I’d be exhausted!

But at this point it’s fair to say that all the archive digging, second guessing and soul searching is paying off.  Our revised portfolio was selected by PhotoServe for their “January Cream of the Crop” showcase (scroll bottom right of gallery), which next to a big juicy assignment, is the kind of feedback we’re after.

For those not in the know: PhotoServe is an online resource for photo editors, art buyers and creative directors to ‘shop’ for commercial photographers and illustrators.  The site is managed by Photo District News (PDN), an award-winning monthly magazine for the professional photographer that has been covering the professional photographic industry for over two decades.

I won’t lie, that kind of afirmation feels great, but the real life lesson here is the value of collaboration.  The humbling fact is that without objective input from a qualified and trusted 3rd party, my portfolio would still be simmering on the backburners of North America’s creative radar ranges.  Granted, we’re not where we need to be just yet, but stay tuned.  I’ve got a good feeling about the year ahead!

New Website is live!

The change is complete! We’ve kicked 2012 off with a brand new website that is geared especially for creative professionals who are tired of sizzle and hungry for steak (or Portobello mushroom).  After testing a dozen solutions from different providers, we finally settled on a web solution that is virtually invisible; that steps aside and ultimately lets the content speak for itself.

Props to Rob, Charlie and the gang over at APhotoFolio for their intuitive admin tools, multiplatform design, lickity-split hosting, cheezey tutorials and valiant customer support (I was getting email support at 10:00 pm PST). It’s a rare thing to find solutions that integrate Function AND Form so well. Jobs would have been proud of you guys.
At any rate, swing over my new site (if you haven’t already come from there) and give us some feedback ’cause the site is very much a work in progress.

Happy New Year to man and beast

Stepped out yesterday in the waning light of 2011 to shoot the final golden rays of another gorgeous day in the Shuswap.  It seems to me only appropriate to share some of that harvest – a couple of images of local plants that represent the healthy survival of man and beast for the new year ahead.  Here’s to your health in 2012!

Rosehips and Snowberries - health for man and beast in 2012

Pretty but prickly, the wood rose [Rosa woodsii] is a poor man’s charm to good health.  The fruit body, called a rose hip, is a strong antioxidant, packing more Vitamin C than any almost any other natural plant around.  During World War II, British residents were instructed to harvest rose hips to brew a vitamin rich syrup for their families to compensate for a scarcity of fresh fruits and vegetables during winter months.

Snowberry [Symphoricarpos albus] – also called Waxberry and Ghostberry – is a low bush from the honeysuckle family that grows in great abundance throughout the British Columbia Interior region.  While an important food source for wintering birds like quail, pheasant and grouse, the tasty looking fruit clusters are toxic to humans causing dizziness and vomiting if ingested.

Better to stick with the rose hips – see you next year!

Santa on a bad day?

Our latest tutorial just hit the webwaves for Photoflex this Christmas that utilizes the extra small OctoDome nxt.  I’m pretty stoked about this hexagonal softbox because as the lesson proves, it’s a great little tool that packs up in a very small case to help portraits on the fly.

The gig was a combination product/portrait for the Barley Station Brewpub featuring a pint of their most popular pilsner, outtakes of which I hoped might also fit my portfolio.  It was so great to be working with local biker and all-round character, Larry Barber, who it turns out is a man of many faces.

Props gotta go out to fellow photographer, Viktoria Haack, who graced the story with some excellent behind-the-scenes imagery to help illustrate parts of the lesson AND of course to publicans and staff over at the Barley Station Brewpub who supplied the grog!

Thanks you guys, you make work fun!

Featured in Popular Photography: Backstory

NGO WORK – FEATURED IN POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY, DEC. 2011

(article text as follows)

In 2008, I traveled to Manila with my family and did volunteer work for Action International.  One of the NGO’s members was writing a story on the “Ten Worst Jobs in Manila” for a street publication called The Jeepney, which focuses on raising awareness for social issues in the Philippines. He asked me to shoot for the story.

One of those jobs was trash scavenging, a huge industry— these guys get a license to work on trash piles, where they hunt for items such as plastic bags and copper wires. They work at night, so arriving on location is spooky.  The checkpoints were empty, and we found these two, who let us set up and photograph.

It was pitch-black, and the only light was from the security entrance and the low-watt tungsten headlamps of the two scavengers. I had only a single flash, so I had to get up to my knees in trash to set up a tripod.  The pile is filled with roaches and centipedes—I could hear the ground moving. We were there for half an hour.

These guys work hard to make a dollar, so we tried not to interrupt them. But afterward we talked, and in a way it changed the story—they loved this work more than their previous jobs in construction. It allowed them to spend more time with their families, and it was closer to their homes.

More importantly, they took a lot of pride in what they do. It takes a special eye to find the valued things in a scavenge pile.

—As told to Lori Fredrickson; Popular Photography

new Lowepro video: the Slingshot

This summer, a ragtag team of talent gathered to celebrate the 19th Annual Roots & Blues Music Festival in Salmon Arm, British Columbia.  But our musical celebration turned to multimedia in the creation of a promo vid for Lowepro camera bags, featuring the Slingshot 300 AW.

Working in tandem with Daymen Photo Marketing and the crafty folks at Lowepro, the following video was conceptualized, storyboarded, shot and edited using a pair of Canon 5D Mark II’s, a DYI steadicam, and a pair of Macbook Pros churning out edits with Final Cut Pro 6 and Reason. A tip of the cap to the acting talents of our Slingshootin’ hero – Dustin Pettet and the all-natural goodness of Jocelyn Underhill for gracing the lens.

Also full props for musical inspiration from the Good/Bad/Ugly composer Ennio Morricone AND especially to his newest proselyte and my faithful sidekick – Chris Pulsifer – who did the actual score and is now off to Langera College.  Good luck buddy.

Photo-Flexed

Got pleasantly surprised today to find myself adopted by Photoflex.  I mean it wasn’t a total surprise, we’d talked over the phone and by email for weeks about developing some tutorials together, but I didn’t know things had ‘gone live’ until I stumbled upon it today.

Not completely sure where this will go, but I’m definitely excited at the possibilities.  Photoflex makes a solid line of light modifiers that I’ve been using for years now; so it’s an easy relationship to pursue.

Stay tuned… I’ll keep you posted.

Joey and Muck crash the set at Sturgis North studio

Salmon Arm, BC – Rock and roll will never die for the hard core bikers who braved near typhoon conditions during the past week’s First Annual Sturgis North Bike Rally.

Salmon Arm, BC – Joey & Muck crash the set at the 1st annual Sturgis North motorcycle rally. [Canon 5D Mark II, 50mm, 1/160, f8, ISO 200; large Photoflex softbox /w grid; Lowepro ProRoller]

But weather won’t stop the committed.  Last week, our crew rolled set into the Sturgis North Fairgrounds to erect a “Drive-In” photo studio and showroom lounge amidst the roar of custom choppers and musical anthems of rock legends like Eric Burdon, Dr. Hook, Lee Aaron, and Steppenwolf’s John Kay.

And what a rally it was!  Tunes, bikes, babes and world-class machinists all converged on the event including  Canada’s own Roger Goldammer of Goldammer Cycle Works and the highly respected Chica Yasuyoshi of Chica Custom Cycles out of Huntington Beach, CA.

Ashley Milliken shows off on a Bonneville classic from Goldammer Cycle Works. [Canon 5DmarkII, 80mm, 1/200th @ f8, ISO 200, large Photoflex softbox with grid, Lowepro ProRoller

Visitors to our studio were treated to a 15 minute portrait sitting on their own bikes, then ushered over to our showroom lounge for an edit/review session.  Many thanks to our new-found, two-wheeled friends!

Open roads and safe travels to you all!

Featured on PDN: PhotoServe

The Lowepro promo, Watertight, is again in the news; picked up with a new spin by the online version of Photo District News (PDN) magazine.  PDN Online, offers photography news and research on the latest trends in the photo industry, from photographic equipment and SLR digital camera reviews to editorial profiles of upcoming photographers.  Many thanks to Barbara Goldman and her team for their interest in our work.